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5 students from Nigeria at Abilene Christian University killed in March 31, 2002 one-car accident

Special to USAfrica The Newspaper, Houston
USAfricaonline.com and NigeriaCentral.com

A tragedy on Easter Sunday March 31, 2002, is bringing sorrow and communal anguish to Nigerians in Texas, and thousands of miles to the primary addresses of the deceased in Lagos (Nigeria).
While many Nigerians in Texas enjoyed their Easter celebrations and its message of redemption, the late-breaking news of the death of the five Abilene Christian University (Texas) students from that country of almost 110 million persons in a one-car accident about four miles southwest of Weatherford, in the Parker County, is raising the troubling questions again: why now? why them? why did these promising youths die in such a sad and ghastly manner? why...?

18 year-old Kolawole Oluwagbemiga Sami was identified as the driver of the 1994 Isuzu Rodeo SUV which had 1 other man and 3 women: Olutomi Ibukun Aruwajoye, 17, Toluwalope Olorunsola, 18, Abimbola Orija, 19, and Iyadunni Bakare, 18.

The students were driving very early in the morning when at 6:35 a.m., according to a statement from the university "the vehicle went off a bridge, hit a retaining wall, and landed on its roof, the officer reported." It adds that "no cause for the accident has been determined." There are, now, only 22 Nigerian students at the Abilene Christianity university. They are parts of the new crop christian youth and energing leaders who came to the school as part of tan international christian education prgram.

At the service in their honor at the campus, Provost Dwayne D. VanRheenen said "This tragedy reminds us (of) ... the words of Scripture that life is like a vapor that appears for a time, then vanishes away, As Christians we have hope, not despair."

Kevin Kehl, associate director for the Center for International and Intercultural Education at ACU recalled that "I knew these students personally, and I knew the families of these kids.... It is a real loss to the ACU community and to the other Nigerian students here. This is a great loss."

The AP quotes the Department of Public Safety Trooper Jeremy Smith as stating the students left Houston about 10 p.m. Saturday (0400 GMT Sunday). It was 6:35 a.m. (1235 GMT) Sunday when their vehicle ran off the road near Weatherford, about 110 miles (177 kilometers) east of Abilene, and landed on its roof about 30 feet (9 meters) below on a concrete embankment. "They had been driving all night, so the speculation is they fell asleep," he said.

Almost every year since 1990, some Nigerian and African students die in very difficult and painful circumstances of car accidents, in different parts of the U.S. Why the young, one must ask, die so you; even befire the maturation of their lives; why do they die in the bloom of their live's quest. Moreso, I'm reminded of the human efforts for some "security" but the reality of death occurs with such certainty that I also recall the philosopher Epicurus who said that "It is possible to provide security against other ills, but as far as death is concerned, we men live in a city without walls." Even with the certainty of death, -Kahlil Gibran, in the "The Voice of the Poet" was quick to note that "death most resembles a prophet who is without honor in his own land or a poet who is a stranger among his people."

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